Player #401 for Aston Villa, Richard Dorsett, known as Dicky Dorsett, and a player with nearly as many nicknames as appearances, Dicky went under the names of the ‘Brownhills Bomber’ after his home town, ‘Iron Man’ due to his uncompromising defensive nature and similarly ‘Brick Wall’. Dicky played as a left back for the club between 1946-47 and 1952-53 making 270 appearances and scoring 27 goals.

Dicky was born in Brownhills, just 11 miles from Villa Park, on 3 December 1919 and made his debut appearance for Villa on Saturday, 12 October 1946 at the age of 26.

Villa had signed Dicky from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a fee of £3,000 in September 1946 and once in the Villa stable he became a virtual ever-present in the first team throughout his time with the club.

Dicky had joined Wolves as a member of their ground staff straight from school in 1934 having been born in Brownhills and played for Walsall schoolboys. Dicky signed professional forms with Wolves in December 1936 and scored Wolves’ goal in the FA Cup final in the 1938-39 season, before serving with the RAF during WW2.

Dicky’s good service as an inside forward for Wolves led him to join Villa in 1946 and from the 1947 campaign was transformed into a half back of distinction and untiring effort with a terrific shot, succeeding Eric Houghton as Villa’s designated penalty taker.

Indeed the loss of the evergreen Houghton was made more palatable by the arrival of the powerfully built forward as he soon showed his ability and mettle to replace a Villa great.

Dicky showed a particular talent in springing surprises in even the most evenly matched game, when, from a seemingly harmless looking midfield move, Dicky would crack home a 25 yard daisy cutter to clinch the points for Villa.

Dicky grew into become Villa’s number one allrounder - taking the honour from team-mate Harry Parkes who had then settled down to his regular right back berth. Dicky added excellence at full back to his inside forward and wing half roles and became an indispensable member of Villa’s first team squad whilst weighing in with his usual contribution of set piece goals.

Dicky’s graduation to Villa’s first choice left back came about with the decision of George Cummings to retire from playing adding both first class defending and a great kick in his boot with a particular reputation for long range free kicks.

In yet another transition in which he played a key role, Dicky succeeded Ivor Powell as Villa captain.

Dicky made 40 or more appearances each season from 1947 to 1951 and never made less than 30 appearances a season over his 7 campaigns.

By the time he arrived at his spiritual home, Dicky had already made a name for himself at neighbours Wolves, Dicky joined the Black Country side as a member of the ground-staff however those lowly beginnings could not hold back his talent and he became teenage debutant who would go on to score four goals as Wolves took apart Leicester City 10-1 less than a month after his debut.

Dicky would score four in a single match again the following season as Everton were put to the sword by Wolves and he followed that up with a commiseration goal in the 1939 FA Cup final.

Like many footballers of the era, Dicky’s career was interrupted by WW2, but unlike some, given his early start he was still only in his mid twenties when he made the move across the midlands to join the Villa.

Despite having been a forward with strong goalscoring prowess at Wolves, the Villa turned him into a more defence minded player - operating at Wing Half and Full Back - before settling on the Villa left back berth. The move backwards however didn’t diminish his powerful style nor his shooting ability which he continued to bring to bear on the Villa team as a designated penalty taker.

In all Dicky represented Villa over 250 times and hit 35 goals but even after 7 years on the playing staff his commitment to the Villa didn’t end.

When Dicky retired at the end of the 1952-53 season he became youth team coach at Villa Park and even continued to represent Villa in some reserve and youth team matches. By 1957, Dicky left for Liverpool to become their assistant trainer however he returned to the Villa in the early 60’s to again take over the running of the youth team.

Dicky had played under Villa managers Alex Massie and George Martin.

Dicky passed away in his hometown of Brownhills on 1 December 1999 aged 80.